How to Use the Hakone Freepass | Prices, Covered Transport, Romancecar, Where to Buy and Digital Tickets

Overview

The Hakone Freepass is a ticket for sightseeing in Hakone, sold by Odakyu Electric Railway. With it, you can get on and off 8 types of transport as many times as you like during its validity period, including the mountain train, cable car, ropeway, sightseeing boats and buses in Hakone. The prices and rules in this article were checked on the websites of Odakyu Electric Railway and Hakone Navi (the official website of the Odakyu Hakone Group) on October 16, 2026.

• There are two types of ticket. The “From Shinjuku” ticket, which you start using at an Odakyu Line station such as Shinjuku Station, includes a round trip on the Odakyu Line to Odawara Station and back. The “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)” ticket, which you start using at a station such as Odawara Station, Hakone-Yumoto Station, Gotemba Station or Mishima Station, does not include the Odakyu Line.
• The validity period is 2 days or 3 days. There is no ticket for just 1 day.
• To ride the Limited Express Romancecar, which runs between Shinjuku Station and Hakone-Yumoto Station, you buy a limited express ticket in addition to the Hakone Freepass.

The diagram below shows a route that Hakone Navi presents as the “Hakone Golden Course”.

1. Hakone Tozan Train: ride from Hakone-Yumoto Station to Gora Station.
2. Hakone Tozan Cable Car: ride from Gora Station to Sounzan Station.
3. Hakone Ropeway: ride from Sounzan Station, via Owakudani Station, to Togendai Station on the shore of Lake Ashi.
4. Hakone Sightseeing Cruise: cross Lake Ashi from Togendai Port to Moto-Hakone Port or Hakone-machi Port.
5. Hakone Tozan Bus: ride from the bus stop near the port where you got off the boat (Moto-Hakone Port or Hakone-machi Port) to Hakone-Yumoto Station.

You can ride all 5 of these with the Hakone Freepass.

Prices

Hakone Freepass prices

• The prices in the table apply from October 1, 2025.
• For a Hakone Freepass that you start using at an Odakyu Line station other than Shinjuku Station or Yoyogi-Uehara Station, the price depends on your starting station. You can see the price by selecting the station on Odakyu's official website.
• The price of the “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)” ticket is the same whether you buy it at Odawara Station, Hakone-Yumoto Station, Gotemba Station or Mishima Station.

Child prices

• Elementary school students pay the child price. Even a 12-year-old pays the child price if they are an elementary school student.
• Children who have not yet started elementary school do not need a Hakone Freepass.
• However, on the Limited Express Romancecar, even a child who has not yet started elementary school needs a child limited express ticket and a child passenger ticket if they use a seat of their own. Instead of the child passenger ticket, they can use a child Hakone Freepass. If they do not use a seat, for example if they sit on an adult's lap, they need neither a child limited express ticket nor a child passenger ticket.

Other rules on child fares are summarized in Child Fares on Japan's Trains and Subways | When Kids Pay Adult Fare, Free Rides for Young Children, Child IC Cards.

Example total when you use the Limited Express Romancecar

Odakyu's official website gives an example of a trip from Shinjuku Station to Hakone and back to Shinjuku Station, riding the Limited Express Romancecar both ways. With a “From Shinjuku” Hakone Freepass valid for 2 days (adult ¥7,100) and two one-way limited express tickets between Shinjuku Station and Hakone-Yumoto Station, one for the trip there and one for the trip back (adult ¥1,200 each), the total is ¥9,500.

Getting there

3 ways to get from Tokyo to Hakone

1. By Limited Express Romancecar: about 80 minutes from Shinjuku Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station with no transfer. All seats are reserved, and you need a limited express ticket in addition to a passenger ticket. You use the “From Shinjuku” Hakone Freepass in place of the passenger ticket, and buy only the limited express ticket in addition (Shinjuku Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station: adult ¥1,200, child ¥600).
2. By Odakyu Line Rapid Express or Express: you can ride with just the “From Shinjuku” Hakone Freepass, and you do not need a limited express ticket. According to Odakyu, it takes about 2 hours from Shinjuku Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station. Check the timetable for the train you take to see whether you need to change trains at a station along the way. These trains have few seats and large spaces for standing passengers, so you may not be able to sit down.
3. By Shinkansen to Odawara Station: if you take the JR Tokaido Shinkansen to Odawara Station, buy the “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)” Hakone Freepass at Odawara Station. You can ride the Hakone Tozan Train from Odawara Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station with the “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)” Hakone Freepass.

• None of the transport covered by the Hakone Freepass is JR. The JAPAN RAIL PASS cannot be used on the Odakyu Line or on the transport covered by the Hakone Freepass. For details, see JAPAN RAIL PASS (JR Pass): Prices and How to Use It | Prices on the Official Website and from Agents Outside Japan, How to Buy, and How to Ride Nozomi and Mizuho.
• Odakyu's official website also gives an example for people who come to Hakone by Shinkansen and go back to Shinjuku Station on the Odakyu Line. In addition to the “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)” Hakone Freepass, you pay the fare from Odawara Station to Shinjuku Station, ¥910. If you ride the Limited Express Romancecar, you also buy its limited express ticket.

Conditions

Covered transport and sections

• The designated sections are shown in color on the maps on Odakyu's official website and in its brochure. If you board outside a designated section, or if you ride beyond a designated section, you pay the fare for that part.
• You cannot ride Izu-Hakone Bus or scheduled sightseeing tour buses with the Hakone Freepass.
• On the Odakyu Highway Bus, passengers who have reserved a seat board first. When the bus is full, you cannot ride it with the Hakone Freepass.

Validity period and Odakyu Line rules

• A ticket valid for 2 days can be used from the first day of its validity period until the last service on the following day. It is not counted as 48 hours from the time you start using it. A ticket valid for 3 days can be used from the first day until the last service on the third day.
• With the “From Shinjuku” Hakone Freepass, you can ride the Odakyu Line only once from your starting station (Shinjuku Station, if you started using the ticket there) to Odawara Station, and once from Odawara Station back to your starting station. On both the outbound and return trips, you can get off at a station along the Odakyu Line and then board again in the same direction (stopover). When you exit the ticket gate at a station along the way, tell the staff at that station.
• With the “From Shinjuku” Hakone Freepass, once you return to your starting station, you cannot use the pass any more, even if its validity period has not ended.
• You can get on and off the transport in Hakone as many times as you like during the validity period.

When services are suspended

Services may be suspended, for example in bad weather. With a paper ticket, if a suspension meant that you could not ride a covered transport even once, you can get a refund for that transport at the station where you end your trip. There is no refund for transport that you rode at least once. With a digital ticket, contact the EMot Support Desk.

Where to buy

Where to buy the Hakone Freepass

You can buy the Hakone Freepass as early as 1 month before the day you use it. However, at the ticket machines at Odakyu Line stations, you can buy only tickets that you start using on the day you buy them.

• EMot Online Tickets is available in English, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) and Korean.
• The Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center is Odakyu's information center for international visitors. The center at Shinjuku Station West Exit is open from 8:00 to 16:00, and the center at Odawara Station is open from 8:30 to 16:30.
• At the ticket machines at Odakyu Line stations, you can pay in cash, with an IC card such as Suica or PASMO, or by credit card (American Express, Diners Club, JCB, Mastercard, Visa).
• Some travel agencies also sell the ticket, and some of them may charge a fee.

Step by step

Using the digital ticket

1. On EMot Online Tickets, choose the ticket type (“From Shinjuku” or “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)”, 2 days or 3 days) and buy it. If you will start using the ticket at a station such as Odawara Station, Hakone-Yumoto Station, Gotemba Station or Mishima Station, choose “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)”. On the EMot Online Tickets screen, “From Shinjuku” is shown as “One Odakyu line round-trip included” and “From Odawara (Hakone Area Only)” as “Hakone Area Only”.
2. Before you use it, open the ticket screen. You need an internet connection to open the screen. Screenshots cannot be used. If your smartphone's battery runs out and you cannot open the screen, you cannot use the ticket.
3. If there is a QR code reader at the ticket gate or boarding point, hold the QR code on your screen over the reader. If there is no reader, show the screen to the staff.

• When you buy tickets for several people and everyone has a smartphone, each person uses their own smartphone. If one person buys all the tickets, that person sends one ticket to each of the other people's smartphones before use.
• If you travel with someone who does not have a smartphone (such as a child), buy a “For Group” ticket on the screen where you choose the ticket type. One smartphone can be used for up to 4 people. With a “For Group” ticket, everyone travels together. The tickets cannot be used separately. Swipe the screen left or right to show the QR code for each person. At ticket gates, first scan the QR codes of the people traveling with you and let them through, then scan your own QR code last and go through.
• If you ask for a refund after buying, a fee of ¥220 per ticket is charged.

Using the paper ticket

• At ticket gates and boarding points, show the paper ticket to the staff. At some stations, you go through the automatic ticket gate by inserting the ticket.
• A paper ticket that you started using at an Odakyu Line station such as Shinjuku Station is collected at the station where you end your trip.

Buying a Limited Express Romancecar ticket

1. Limited express tickets go on sale at 10:00 (Japan time) one month before the day you ride. You can buy them at ticket counters and ticket machines at Odakyu Line stations, and on EMot Online Tickets.
2. At the ticket gate, go through with the Hakone Freepass (the digital ticket screen or the paper ticket), not with the limited express ticket.
3. Sit in the car and seat shown on the limited express ticket.

• You can change a limited express ticket or get a refund for it until the train departs. The refund fee is ¥100. After you miss the train, that limited express ticket cannot be changed to another train or refunded.

Good to know

• When you show the Hakone Freepass, you get discounts on admission and other charges at about 70 facilities, such as hot springs and museums. The discount for each facility is listed on Odakyu's official website and on Hakone Navi. For how to use hot springs in Hakone, see Onsen Etiquette and How to Bathe | Checking Tattoo Policies and Bathing Precautions.
• Before you go out, check the service information on Hakone Navi to see whether the transport is running that day.
• Prices and rules may change. This article is based on official information as of October 16, 2026, so check the latest information on Odakyu Electric Railway's official website before you set out.